MLB toughens drug agreement provisions

Baseball players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that year’s postseason under changes to the sport’s drug agreement announced Friday.

In the most significant toughening to the drug rules in eight years, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association said the penalty will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban.

Baseball started testing with penalties in 2004, established a 10-day suspension for a first testing violation in 2005 and increased the discipline to 50 games in 2006.

While there were two-to-four major league suspensions annually from 2008-11, the number increased to12 in 2012 and 14 players were penalized following last year’s investigation of the Biogenesis of American anti-aging clinic. Among them were All-Stars Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz, former NL MVP Ryan Braun and three-time AL MVP Alex Rodriguez, who is suspended for the entire 2014 season.

“Our hope here is that the adjustments that we’ve made do inevitably get that number to zero,” said new union head Tony Clark, a former All-Star himself. “In the event that that doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, we’ll reevaluate and move forward from there. But as I sit here, I am hopeful that players make the right decisions that are best for them, for their careers and for the integrity of the game.”

Peralta and Cruz returned from their suspensions in time to participate in the playoffs, which angered some of their colleagues. Clark said the union membership wanted to make sure “a player is not coming back and affecting a change in the postseason as a result of the decision that particular player made earlier in the year.”

In addition to the postseason ban, players who serve PED suspension will not be eligible for automatic postseason money shares but may be given cash awards at the discretion of their teammates.

A player serving a season-long suspension will lose all his pay. Under the previous rules, Rodriguez gets 21-183rds of his salary this year, or $2,868,852.

“Overall, the one thing you can say is the game is significantly cleaner now than it was 15 years ago,” Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson said. “We’ve done a lot of things in between now and then to get this going, to increase penalties and increase testing. The bottom line is, a lot of guys, they’re going to get caught if they have anything illegal in their system and that’s what we want. We don’t want guys to do it. And we don’t want kids to do it because they think guys on TV are doing it. It’s important for us to be good role models.”

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An arbitrator would be allowed to reduce a suspension for a first or second testing violation by up to 50 percent if a player proves by “clear and convincing evidence” that a positive test was not caused by his “significant fault or negligence.” However, penalties may not be cut for muscle-building substances such as testosterone, human growth hormone, Boldenone, Nandrolone and Stanozolol.

In-season random urine tests will increase from 1,400 to 3,200 overall in addition to the minimum two for each player, and offseason tests will rise from 250 to 350.

There will be 400 random blood collections used to detect human growth hormone in addition to the mandatory one for each player during spring training.

“I think that, like 99 percent of the players, fans want a clean game, want people they can look up to and people they can trust playing on their God-given athletic talent and their hard work, and their desire,” Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. “I think this is just another way that fans can have peace of mind that the guys that they’re cheering on the field are living that life.”

Players with PED violations, other than those whose penalties are reduced for mitigation, will receive six additional random urine tests and three more blood tests annually for the rest of their careers. Foreign players entering the major leagues and those not subject to the major- or minor-league testing program for at least a year will be required to take urine and blood tests before signing contracts.

Record deal

Miguel Cabrera will earn a baseball-record $292 million over the next decade under a $248 million, eight-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Cabrera, who turns 31 on April 18, is due $44 million over the final two years of his $152.3 million, eight-year contract that runs through 2015.

The contract’s average of $31 million tops the previous mark of $30,714,286 set by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in his $215 million, seven-year deal in January. The total commitment tops the record set by New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez with a $275 million, 10-year agreement in 2007.

Also ...

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says the sport’s revenue could top $9 billion this year. Major League Baseball reached $8 billion for the first time in 2013, up from less than $2 billion when Selig became acting commissioner in 1992. ... Starting pitcher Cole Hamels has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Philadelphia Phillies with left biceps tendinitis. The move was made retroactive to March 21. Hamels, a three-time All-Star and the 2008 World Series MVP, went 8-14 with a 3.60 ERA last season. He had been sidelined all spring until tossing two innings in a minor league game Thursday. ... Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed reliever David Hernandez has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, an injury that could result in season-ending surgery. Hernandez will get a second opinion. ... The Boston Red Sox say three-time All-Star Grady Sizemore will start in center field on opening day, completing his comeback from a series of injuries that almost ended his career.